What If Your Next Customer Is One Coffee Away with Cameron Fagala

0:02Cameron Fagala:Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs Podcast, where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. as we go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it. Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.

0:46Today, I'm excited to be joined by Cameron Faggala with Punchless Pros. So Cameron, thanks for being here. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Thank you for having me. Yeah, yeah. We're excited to have you. So let's go ahead and jump right in. So Cameron, for those of you who may not know it yet, who is Cameron Fagula and what is Punchless Pros? Yeah, so I am fairly new to the Asheville area. Originally, I'm from Gastonia, which is right outside of Charlotte. I went to Appalachian State. That's where I kind of started dating my wife, Maggie. And so from there, we kind of were on the younger side.

1:28We graduated kind of right into COVID. Didn't really know. Everything we planned kind of went a different way. But she's a lawyer. So our first three years of our marriage, we spent in Louisville, Kentucky, for her to go to law school at the University of Louisville. And she now works at the Bunkum County Courthouse. Yeah, we've been in Asheville since August, but it's kind of always been the goal to get here and settle down and establish roots. As for Punchless Pros, it is a family owned business. So her father, my father-in-law and his partner are the owners. I am. But they have a full time job, so I'm the I run it day to day.

2:14I'm in it in the business pretty much 24 seven. It's a little bit like my baby. So we're a handyman service. So we kind of do all of the smaller stuff, stuff that, you know, general contractors aren't interested in handling. So our average job size is somewhere between a thousand and two thousand dollars. And we specialize in work that doesn't require permits, but improves the quality of people's homes. so you know why western north carolina i know you said you had uh you're from gastonia so uh why'd you choose over obviously you had some ties to app state but other than that why western north carolina yeah i mean it's uh i had an uncle that lived in fairview my whole life um my wife's family is from two hours west of here in cherokee county so like murphy andrews area I fell in love in the mountains with the mountains So it's kind of always the goal to just kind of settle down and establish roots I mean, we always lived kind of on the western side of the state too Obviously, the Charlotte area is pretty flat But we were on the western side of Charlotte And always two hours away from Asheville So it was, I don't know, it always just kind of felt like home for us.

3:45We've kind of always been called in this direction. Okay, so take us back to the very beginning. What made you say, yep, I'm starting that business. This is exactly what I'm doing and this is the industry I'm doing it in. Yeah, well, it's kind of something that I fell into where I've always just kind of existed alongside the trades. I wouldn't consider myself like, you know, the most handy person, you know, to be doing the work itself. But, you know, that's not really the role I'm in currently. I'm managing the team and overseeing a lot of the operations. But it's, you know, it's a necessary work.

4:30And it's, you know, specifically with the handyman services. It's just something that not a lot of people are doing. for homeowners. It's something that they can't really find a lot of. You know, they, you don't always need your full bathroom remodeled or your, you know, a full deck build. Sometimes you just need a couple boards on your deck replaced. Sometimes you just want to replace the vanity in your bathroom. Sometimes you just need a ceiling fan hung. And that's kind of the the space that we live in, we just kind of saw a gap in the market and decided to pursue quality and excellence in that field and just provide a service that we didn't see existing in the marketplace.

5:18So if you had to start again from absolute scratch, and obviously this is hypothetical, but if you had to start again from absolute scratch, you know, let's say you had no brand, no clients, no safety net, what would you do differently the second time around starting your business or would you do anything differently? Well, I mean, we are still fairly new. However, you know, I think that we're likely we would probably launch in a different time of the year. So we, we launched into the cold season, which is just kind of naturally a slower season for this kind of work, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because we were able to, to really focus on networking and, you know, building community, just going out and meeting people.

6:03And, you know, as, as we get into spring and summer, when it naturally gets a little busier, it's, you know, all good relationships that we built that are paying off every day. So it's, yeah, launching into, into the cold season was probably not our, our best move, but it's, it's built us into what we are now. Yeah. Yeah. So it doesn't sound like you really have too much regrets. I mean, you know, you were able to use that slow time to kind of do some other things business wise and it sounded like it ended up working out well for you anyways. Right. Yeah. It's, you know, there's, there's always, uh, there's always an upside to look at.

6:47And, um, we, you know, we've really chosen to just kind of sink our teeth into the community aspect of it and just meet as many people as we possibly can. So that's where we've been spending our time. Okay. Okay. So what would you say is a lesson you learned the hard way as a business owner that no one really prepares you for? It's probably the scheduling aspect of things. It's just, you know, because we're not doing big jobs that take us, you know, weeks and weeks, optimizing the schedule is really where I spend a lot of my time because ideally we have one job that lasts a full day or maybe even just a half day.

7:30Or potentially I have three small jobs that are all kind of in various areas that I'm trying to fit into one day just to maximize and obviously eliminate the white space on the schedule. So I wasn't necessarily prepped for that, but it's something that we fine tune every day. Okay. So what would you say is one common myth people believe about running a business that makes you laugh now when you hear it? Yeah. I mean, like if you're your own boss or, you know, you have more autonomy, me, you can set your own schedule and no one's, you know, no one's telling you what to do. And I think that's, that's a little bit of a fallacy.

8:15You know, it's, I'm usually waking up before the sun comes up and answering emails or, you know, responding to my guys very late in the evenings. So, you know, it's all good things, but, you know, definitely not a nine to five per se. So be honest. Are you naturally more of an entrepreneur or an employee at heart? Yeah, I mean, it's a that's a good question. I probably cheat more towards employee. And I'm learning a lot of this entrepreneurial things as I go. I do have the desire to work for myself. I watched my dad be, you know, a business owner my entire upbringing. So I didn't really know where to go for that as far, you know, like what industry I would exist in or anything like that.

9:10But, you know, I think that being an employee in the, you know, for some small businesses, for some large companies on my, you know, my journey to this role really helped me and prepared me for the entrepreneurial aspects of things. So, you know, and with this next question, I want you to be as honest as you can. How do you personally handle stepping away from the business, like, you know, taking a vacation?

9:39Well, my wife and I are planning to go to the beach next month. And, I mean, unfortunately, I do believe the laptop is coming on vacation with us. so it's uh you know the nature of this work is again you know we're not doing big jobs where i can just kind of put something on pause and walk away from it like we're doing small jobs every day and i'm you know i'm also i'm managing a team and so i have different guys in different locations every day so yeah i think that that's just you know it's kind of part of it especially in the the phase that we're in now. Um, I'm, I'm plugging, I'm plugged in at least partially, uh, seven days a week.

10:23So, you know, I think that there will be a time for, for completely unplugging and walking away for a vacation, but I just, I'm not sure that it's right now. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was actually just answering my next question there. So it sounds like, yeah, you said, like you said, you work seven days a week, so you're working pretty much all hours of the day or do you have like a cutoff? There's still time for family, of course. Um, I I'm working the majority of the days, Monday through Friday, but, um, there is, there is work being done on Saturdays and Sundays. Um, you know, I'm not, not the entire day, but it's, I'll, I'll wake up and check the emails with my coffee and that sort of thing.

11:04And, prep the schedule for the next week. Sometimes that requires me to call customers and make sure that they're still good for us to come out the following day, whatever it may be. Sometimes we have to complete work on the Saturday if someone was sick or if we're under the gun to try and help a realtor or a homeowner get something done to meet a deadline. So it's just kind of the nature of the work. Okay. So looking back, what do you attribute most to your growth in your business so far? I know you said you're fairly new, but I'm sure you've got some growth so far that you can look back on. No, I mean, we're, we're experiencing growth.

11:50I mean, week to week, we're, we're watching things ramp up and we attribute a lot of that to relationships that we've built and people's advice and, you know, just meeting one-on-one with someone for coffee and, you know, picking their brain and asking them how we can help them, but also who we should talk to next and going and talking to that person and asking similar questions and, you know, just kind of building our network out to the point now where I'm going to networking events and running into people that I've seen various places. And, you know, just again, life's about relationships and where we've been, you know, try to be very intentional about meeting people, understanding what they're doing, making sure they understand what we're doing.

12:37And, you know, obviously if there's any overlap, I'm working together, but yeah, just Asheville is a really awesome community, especially in the business owner sector. And it's, it's been something I've, you know, I've fallen in with some really good people that have been helping us out a lot. Yeah. Yeah. No, the sense of the community in Asheville is awesome. I'm not sure if you're around. I mean, obviously you were around during Hurricane Helene and just seeing the whole community kind of band together and get everything back together. It's just, it was just an amazing thing to see. So definitely a sense of community here for sure.

13:13So, and you do have employees, right, Cameron? Oh yeah, we do. We're there in our branded bands and we, yes, they are, they're our guys. And yeah, so I'm in charge of, you know, getting them where they need to be, making sure they've got the materials they need. And they're in charge of making the work really great and being professional with the customers and all that good stuff. Yeah. OK. So, you know, when you're building a team, what traits, you know, you're getting ready to hire somebody. What traits matter more to you than what's on someone's resume? Yeah. I mean, well, their, their abilities are obviously because we're so diverse in what we, what we focus on is, you know, it's not, we don't just do one thing as it relates to, you know, home repairs.

14:02So their ability to, you know, kind of be a jack of all trades, they have to be able to, you know, really focus on carpentry and drywall. Those are our two biggest items that we focus on. That's where a lot of our work comes from. But, you know, there are so many other things that we're, you know, we do. So being well-rounded in that sphere is very important. But I mean, beyond that, you know, our guys are sometimes the only people that a customer may interact with. So it's super important that they're, you know, kind and well-mannered. And, you know, we try and take a different approach to the trades that, you know, not saying anyone else is doing it worse than us by any means.

14:56But, you know, we we go for a more buttoned up look. You know, we try to, you know, send them out with the branded vans and the branded clothing and, you know, just be a little bit of a breath of fresh air. Some people have had really poor experiences with with tradesmen in the past. And so we try to be, like I said, breath of fresh air. So customer service is very key ability to communicate. And, you know, the the sense to, you know, get get the job done, that sort of thing. And sometimes we're asking them to quote as well. So they need to be able to to diagnose and, you know. Pull the material list and that sort of thing.

15:43So just they need to be well versed for sure. So what would you say is one thing you do intentionally to keep your workplace positive, motivated and productive, you know, especially during like a stressful time or stressful season? yeah we we communicate i mean often i talk to my guys every day in some capacity um we take them out to dinner christmas parties that sort of thing we get to know spouses and kids names and you know we have a a guy whose daughter is in a play and we're sponsoring the play. We try to be really intentional about these aren't just guys. They're our guys. They're not just employees.

16:33They're people. They've got families. They've got a life after 5 p.m. We try to honor that and give them space to do their thing outside of work and give them space to do their thing that they enjoy from, you know, eight to five. Okay. Okay. All right. So we're going to go ahead and head into the quick fire round. So basically how this works is I'm going to give you one word and then I just want you to answer back with the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running your business and then expand upon what you, what, what, what, what the road that you chose, just to expand upon a little bit and give us a little bit of context.

17:14Does that make sense? Let's do it. All right. Perfect. first word is education sorry i'm gonna pause just a second am i answering for my personal like like my personal uh no yeah just in regards to running your business so uh does education does it is it really important for you and what you guys do and how does that and just expand upon a little bit okay yeah i mean let me make a note real quick just to cut that part out let me make a note on that. Give me a second. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. So let me, I'm just going to go ahead and ask it again. First word is education. Yeah. So, I mean, my, my personal education background is in marketing.

17:58So that obviously helps in some of our, you know, the way we approach, you know, event sponsoring or Google ads or whatever that may be. But, you know, education in And this, you know, in the trade specifically, you know, we're always learning, you know, there's a lot to know and a lot to learn. So we, you know, continue to learn about new products or whatever, you know, new ways to go about things, new tools, that sort of thing. And try and do things better than they've been done or than we have done in the past. Planning. Planning is everything from going out and doing the inspection to following up with the work itself, planning time to follow up with customers about quotes that we've left, planning time to meet with people in the community.

18:54It is a huge part of my day and it's where I spend a lot of my time is on planning. Inspiration. Inspiration is family. I mean, it's what keeps me going. This is a family business, as I mentioned earlier, you know, just really focused on, you know, trying to grow and be better every day. And I take a lot of inspiration from the people around me and people I've met and my family. Nice, nice. Commitment. This this wouldn't work without the commitment of my guys. And, you know, me and my ownership team were we're all very committed to this. Lots of hours dedicated to this. Sacrifices made. Commitment is strong and has to remain strong.

19:49Discipline. Yeah, I mean, similar to commitment. It's, you know, there's a lot of ways that you can focus your time. And so making sure that you're disciplined enough to focus on the right thing at the right time is very important, especially for not so much my techs as much as me. Like, you know, I've got so many things I can be focusing on. So the discipline to focus on the right thing at the right time and give everything the time it deserves is something I strive for. Risk.

20:27This, we're in people's homes. So risk is an obvious factor. I mean, obviously being a small business has its own risks. But people are very particular about their homes and we we are, too. But, you know, that's nothing is ever black and white in this industry. So there is inherent risk involved that we we welcome and we, you know, focus on ways to minimize. Perfect. And the last word is execution. Yeah, we I mean, the execution of my guys is very important. I mean, how they perform the work and, you know, that they've been asked to do is is really what makes this whole thing tick execution on my part to ensure that they're they're not wasting time or having to drive, you know, back and forth and what, you know, trying to streamline things.

21:24And it's all very important and all part of the greater puzzle. OK, OK. All right. So I appreciate you participating in that quick fire round. So and I want you to be as candid as you can on the next answer to this question here. But let's say I'm a small business owner. I'm listening to the podcast episode today. Listen to Cameron here speak, you know, right now. And let's say I'm just having a bad 2026. I'm feeling stuck. I'm feeling overwhelmed, just not having a great start to the year so far. What's a piece of advice you would give them today? yeah i mean well for starters we're you know late may early april at time right now so i've been there you know we're just we're just getting started um you know don't decide what the year is based on the first couple months we have we're not even to the halfway point yet um also you know take action um go meet someone new this week um go find a new networking event that you haven't been to before put yourself out there in a way that you haven't you know evaluate what's working, what's not working, change something, um, you know, for the better and, you know, don't give up.

22:37Okay. Okay. And, uh, you know, any wise words of advice for small business owners who are looking to grow their business? I think I've said it three or four times, but I'm going to just continue to say it networking who, you know, is that thing. And, you know, just like that, that's, if I've learned one thing in 2025 that I'm taking into 2026 is that you are, you are who, you know, and you can, you can gain momentum just by a couple of good positive relationships or, you know, having a connection that introduces you to one of their connections. And then, you know, this is just me people. Now digging into that a little bit more, you did, you know, like you have said networking events and stuff like that.

23:24Do you have any networking groups that you would like to recommend? I'm going to be in our group. I've gotten a lot of value out of that. Obviously, there's multiple chapters through Buncombe County and Henderson County.

23:44Local chambers are a good way to meet people. There's an organization called Incredible Towns. They do a lot of things around town. Just, I mean, there's. You have to seek them out a little bit, but once you start going to a couple, you'll start getting invited to more and, you know, you'll run into some familiar faces or meet some new folks along the way. So, yeah, it's once you plug in, it's it's easier for that. You know, those connections just continue to grow and build on themselves. OK, OK. So what's next for Punchless Pros? What should people be excited about coming up in the near future?

24:23I know you guys are heading into a warm season or busy season, but anything else we should be excited about? Yeah. I mean, we're, we're looking to grow organically, you know, and make sure that we've established good roots for ourselves. It's, you know, tax return season. So if you're, you know, looking to get some stuff done around the house, now is a really good time. You know, keep us in mind for, you know, if you're listening, keep us in mind for yourselves, keep us in mind for your friends and family. Um, we're, uh, happy to help, you know, anyone that we can, um, we'll give out a free estimate so we can come on site and do a, do a free estimate and, uh, yeah, looking forward to the, uh, the busyness that spring and summer provide.

25:08Yeah. Yeah, no, it's exciting time. So, and finally, what's the best way for someone to connect with you or learn more about what you all do? Yeah. Yeah. Punchlesspros.com is that's our website. You can go look at our all of our offerings and give us a shout. We can always reach out to us directly. 828-672-3656 or email me at cfagola at punchlesspros.com. OK, perfect. Any social media? Yeah, we're on Facebook. We're on Instagram. Yeah, definitely check us out there as well. Perfect. Perfect. All right, Cameron. Yeah, this has been fantastic. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story, your perspective, and your real behind the scenes of building your business.

26:00Really appreciate you coming on. It was an honor speaking with you today. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you.

26:09Cameron Fagala:Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. The more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. it's free for you at gift from bill.com that's gift from bill.com hey and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business send me an email directly just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com that's my personal email that i read no one else reads it first there's it's not screened it's my real email Just send it to me.

27:11Cameron Fagala:I can't wait to talk to you. Hey, and until then, all the best.